Blaq Friday — A BlackBerry Twitter App Review

When there are only 10,000 apps available for the BlackBerry, it’s easy to get excited about the ones on deck. The last time I was this excited about a new BlackBerry app, it was also for a Twitter app (I know…boooorrring).

The buzz around Blaq — a BlackBerry Twitter app — has been growing over the past few months. I only heard about it a few weeks ago…through Twitter, of course. But after getting acquainted with the app’s features on its website, I was hooked.

The user interface is to blame for my obsession. The attractive black background highlighted by bright greens and blues make it the most pleasing Twitter app so far. Not even the latest UberTwitter update (which I gawked at since its most recent facelift) can touch its beauty.

But what functionality sets it apart from other Twitter apps?

While viewing Twitter profiles with Blaq is aesthetically pleasing, there is one feature that the Blaq developers are “most excited to share with you”: BlaqOps.

On its blog, Blaq developers claim that “selecting the BlaqOps icon brings you to a pop-up menu…Blaq will pull the corresponding information from your device and send a direct message to the selected user with a special code (e.g. #blaqBBM) and your information (in this case, your device’s PIN).”

The Quick Tweet option stands out as the most appealing feature in my opinion. By opening the BlackBerry menu and selecting “Quick Tweet”, a status window appears giving you the ability to let the world know that you’re eating a sandwich. This can be done even when other apps are open. With the installation of a 10KB plug-in, you can set Quick Tweet to a convenience key for easier access to this feature.

Adding to the convenience factor is the ability to tweet from multiple accounts without having to toggle between accounts to do so. Blaq lets you choose which account to post from by selecting the respective box of the account(s).

One other feature worth mentioning is tucked away in the ‘Settings’ menu. With Blaq, you have the ability to customize your URL shortener. I’ve always stuck to bit.ly, but I know that others prefer to use an alternative shortener. There are a few other features that focus on integration, but this was my favorite since I’d likely use it regularly.

The app is expected to launch today in BlackBerry App World.

Today, we’ll be bringing you the 480 x 360 resolution (9700, 96xx and 89xx) and the 320 x 240 resolution (93xx, 85xx and 83xx) in both the full, paid version for $4.99, and also BlaqLite, our free version. Blaq updates and upgrades will be free…for life.

A Twitter update from Blaq claims that there will be a version for the Bold 9000 as well.

I plan to use Blaq exclusively for awhile longer before I can claim it the “Best BlackBerry Twitter app”. For the record, I’m still high on UberTwitter. But with innovative features that focus on convenience and a UI that’s easy on the eyes, Blaq is well on its way to the top.

No word yet on when this app will be available for the Torch 9800. For more information and updates, check out AllBlaqEverything.com. You can also follow them on Twitter at @Blaq.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Twitter For BlackBerry Beta Available To The Public

Back in February, I was given the opportunity to test Twitter For BlackBerry by the folks over at IntoMobile. In true beta style, it was buggy and was missing many of the essential functions we’ve become accustomed to using Twitter apps like UberTwitter, Seesmsic or SocialScope. Regardless, I took what it gave me and returned some of my own thoughts about the app.

Yesterday, the application was released to the public with some upgrades to the closed beta version. Many of the bug fixes were implemented with the update resulting in a smoother experience. And some functions — editing lists and updating profiles, instant DM and @ reply notification — were added as well.

There are still some wishlist items that this app lacks in order for it to be a worthy switch from one of the apps above.

Multiple Accounts. Unless you log out of one account and then into another, there is no way to support multiple accounts on Twitter For BlackBerry. Yet. Hopefully, this is one of the features added in the next update. Considering all the mulitple personalities that are using Twitter, this is a must.

Editable Retweeting. I don’t know about you, but I love to add my 2 cents to RTs. Twitter For BlackBerry only retweets using the new format. And worse yet, it doesn’t appear in your timeline to confirm that your RT was RT’d.

URL Shortening. Doing this is a chore in this app. You have to visit your favorite URL shortener from your BlackBerry browser, paste your link into the appropriate field, shorten it, copy the shortened link, head over to the Twitter For BlackBerry app, and paste it into your tweet. Ouch.

Auto Refresh. Twitter For BlackBerry offers an option to periodically update your feed, but it would be nice if it offered to update each time you access the app as well. This eliminates the need for a shortcut key (but don’t get rid of that)…or worse yet accessing the menu, scrolling down to ‘refresh’ and clicking.

Bugs! While my Twitter For BlackBerry app runs much smoother, I’ve discovered a couple of bugs. Every now and then while typing a new tweet, the words sudddenly disappear. A screenshot of what I’m referring to would be great right here. But that’s a little annoying. To fix this, you have to close the app, which means losing your tweet and starting all over.

While I can’t prove that Twitter For BlackBerry is to blame, typing texts or BBMs can be a hassle. Like a ghostwriter, random symbols and letter variations start popping up in my messages. A reboot (alt+right shift+del) is necessary. However, when I deleted the app for a period of time, these issues disappeared as well.

Despite what appear to be gripes with Twitter For BlackBerry, this app certainly has potential to be a top consideration for Twitter users. Hopefully, these changes are addressed sooner than later. What are some of the things you want to see from the next version of this app?

Popularity: 5% [?]